A great deal of work has taken place in Hampshire to understand what parent carers’ information needs are and why the Local Offer cannot simply be an online directory. The thinking in Hampshire around the Local Offer is evolving all of the time, as the Local Offer development progresses. This paper does not give all of the solutions, but hopefully explains our current approach to developing a meaningful and useful Local Offer for families in Hampshire, which we hope will be useful to share.

By September 2014, all local authorities have to develop a Local Offer33kB for families to improve choice and transparency. It will outline all services and support available to children and young people aged 0-25 years with SEN or disabilities, including education, health, social care and leisure services.

The Hampshire Local Offer is being co-produced together with parents/carers, from the Hampshire Parent/Carer Network (HPCN), young people, voluntary organisations, including Parent Voice, and professionals from education, health and social care. A range of working groups37kB have been established.

The aim is to provide information in a way that makes very clear:

what is available

where a service can be found, and

how you can access those services, including how any decisions are made.

It will help parent/carers and young people find the services that are nearest to them, and most suitable for their [child’s] needs.

Hampshire have also helped produce, with South East 7 colleagues, a Local Offer information leaflet for all education settings (meaning for example nurseries, primary, secondary and special schools, academies, non maintained special schools, further education colleges, Pupil Referral Units, and independent specialist providers).

This sets out what they need to provide within the Local Offer – to help parents and carers, along with their children and young people, understand about the schools and settings that their children and young people may be attending. This means over 600 establishments across Hampshire who have a new duty to co-operate and provide the information for the Hampshire Local Offer.